Spotify arrives on Xbox One

Earlier this month, reports confirmed a Spotify app for Microsoft’s Xbox One was in internal beta testing. Today, that app is becoming publicly available. The new Spotify app for the Xbox One is now launching in 34 markets worldwide, Spotify announced, allowing gamers to play songs, albums and playlists directly from their console, including while in a gaming session.

The app, which is available for download from the Xbox Store, works both for free Spotify users as well as those who pay for the Premium version of the service.

To get started, you’ll need to either login with your Spotify credentials or create a new account directly in the app. Gamers can then choose to browse in Spotify to its “Gaming” section, where there are a number of pre-curated playlists to choose from, like “Epic Gaming,” “Power Gaming,” and a playlist created by Xbox’s own Major Nelson.

Because you’ll want to be able to control the music without having to interrupt your game, the app experience on Xbox will also work with the Spotify app on your phone, tablet or laptop through Spotify Connect. That means you can do things like pause or skip tracks or select new tunes from another device, which are then streamed to your Xbox while you’re still in your game.

“Music continues to be essential when creating the ultimate gaming experience”, said Mikael Ericsson, Product Director, Platform Partner Experience at Spotify, in a statement about the launch. “Starting today, we’re really excited to offer Xbox One gamers the ability to choose their own unique soundtrack while enjoying their favorite games.”

The launch of Spotify on Xbox One is long overdue, given that it’s been available on PlayStation 4 since 2015. But Microsoft had its own music service with Groove that it clearly wanted to prop up. Perhaps the company has at last comes to terms with the fact that not having Spotify available to gamers gave rival Sony a competitive advantage.

The console makers themselves have largely failed to find success with their own music services. Sony shut down its Music Unlimited service in 2015, leaving Spotify to power the music for gamers on its platform. And Microsoft’s Groove Music (previously Xbox Music) has far less demand compared with Spotify and its footprint of 140 million users worldwide.

The launch of Spotify on Xbox comes alongside a larger update for the gaming platform, rolling out to Insiders on the Alpha Ring today. This release includes updates to Home, Guide and Community sections on the platform, while updates to Avatars, Game Hubs, Profiles and more will arrive this fall.